Kanoon`s citizens are losing the region`s beautiful native flowers

Question

Kanoon`s citizens are losing the region`s beautiful native flowers and plants because of introduced nonnative species. A satisfying way to help reverse this dismal trend would be to choose regionally native plants for our urban and suburban backyards, gardens, and public landscapes.

Which of the following, if true, most significantly undermines the reasoning above?

A. Natural herbicides can be used to reduce several nonnative plant species.
B. Most plants native to Kanoon use substantial amounts of water, a resource now fairly scarce in the region
C. Using native plants has been shown to be an effective means to combat invasive nonnative plants.
D. Lystriatic Beetles, which feed on the roots of several of the most virulent nonnative plants, could be a promising alternative to combat nonnative plants.
E. The nonnative plants growing in Kanoon are extremely invasive and now reproduce heartily throughout the region even after being removed or replaced by other plants.

aggvipul · Answer

The argument would be undermined if we somehow know that growing native to combat non-native is not going to help

Which of the following, if true, most significantly undermines the reasoning above?

A. Natural herbicides can be used to reduce several nonnative plant species. -   Out of Focus  
B. Most plants native to Kanoon use substantial amounts of water, a resource now fairly scarce in the region-   Warps the information. Provides external information- usually not accepted in CR  
C. Using native plants has been shown to be an effective means to combat invasive nonnative plants.-   180 degree. This option rather strengthens the argument  
D. Lystriatic Beetles, which feed on the roots of several of the most virulent nonnative plants, could be a promising alternative to combat nonnative plants.-   Warps the information  
E. The nonnative plants growing in Kanoon are extremely invasive and now reproduce heartily throughout the region even after being removed or replaced by other plants-   Bingo! If the non native are extremely invasive then growing more native wont help

sunny91 · Answer

Please help to explain the OA Option E over option B?

aggvipul · Answer

sunny91  I shall try to help you out here
Can you help me out with the exact question you want an explanation for?
Meanwhile have you gone through the explanation I have provided in the correspondence above

sunny91 · Answer

aggvipul ,
Option E states -The nonnative plants growing in Kanoon are extremely invasive and now reproduce heartily throughout the region even after being removed or replaced by other plants.
My problem with E is what if the non native plants are not planted only in the backyards, urban gardens etc. We are assuming that urban and suburban backyards, gardens, and public landscapes are occupied with non native plants. Wat if the non native plants occupy areas other than this.
Option B states that native plants need water in good amount and the availability of water is scarce. So, this option weakens the argument stating that chances are high that native plans will fail to survive if planted in backyards, gardens etc.

NotFine233 · Answer

Your explanation for "B" is that it provides external information which is incorrect, but so does "E" also provides external information. Additionally, "E" doesn't seem to undermine the argument as much as "B" because although the plants are extremely invasive, gardens, backyards, public landscapes are controlled and maintained more easily than access to a resource that both native plants, nonnative plant, and people need to survive. Out of the list, the native plants are the least likely to access the scare resource since humans would prioritize their own hydration and nonnative plants that are invasive would take an amount and the native plants that require significant amounts of water would not be able to flourish.

Vaishbab · Answer

Hi, could an expert help me understand why it's (E) over (B)

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

The problem with B is that it doesn't help us decide what to do. First, we don't have a comparison: native plants use a lot of water, but what about nonnative? If they use the same or more, then this objection makes no sense. Then, even if native plants do use more water than nonnative, that doesn't necessarily ruin the conclusion, which is just that planting natives is a good way to reverse the trend of native plant loss. If the whole point is to keep the native plants around, then saying that this requires us to use a rare resource doesn't matter. We're assessing whether we can meet the goal, not whether it's a good goal to have.

Having said all that, while I'd choose E, it does have a bit of a flaw, too. E is saying we can't get rid of the nonnative plants by planting native ones. But the conclusion is about not LOSING the native ones, not about eliminating the nonnative. So while E does seem like a potential problem, it's not clear how relevant it is to the author's conclusion.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

NotFine233 has an important objection here. We cannot ever eliminate Weaken answers by saying they "warp the information" or provide new info. By definition, all the answers are true, and we expect them to provide new info. Our job is just to determine which one, IF TRUE, creates a problem for the argument by weakening the connection between premises and conclusion.

Kanoon`s citizens are losing the region`s beautiful native flowers

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Kanoon`s citizens are losing the region`s beautiful native flowers

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